SLow and low: a behind-the-scenes look at Lowriders, the documentary and photo series
The culmination of my master's degree at the University of Southern California is a project based on lowriders and lowriding.
Jackie Hader and his 1966 Chevrolet Caprice take a break in Old Sacramento after a cruise around downtown. His grandson and a few other children run to the restroom before jumping back in to the cars for another drive. Hader's lowrider is modified with hydraulics. He controls the height of each wheel with switches near the driver's seat and can make the front bounce off the ground. This is called "hopping."
We're done, y'all!
Please check out the project I submitted for review here.
(On Google Chrome, please - the code doesn't work well on other browsers; I'm not a pro programmer...)
I coded the page from scratch, took all the photos, video and made the documentary.
Please visit the USC website to see the entire collection of photographs of both showing and building lowriders. Not all of the photographs are on this behind-the-scenes page.
Documentary film
Spending time with lowriders, those who build them and others in their community will show that lowriding is much more than cool cars. There is culture and history behind each feature of a lowrider. Each part of a lowrider has a story of its creation.
Photography series
The lowriding community is rich with personality and passion for their cars. The face of lowriding is evolving. The lowriders of 2018 might not be the same people you'd expect to be lowriders in the 1970s and 1980s; there are some who have been in the community for decades and others who are just joining the club.
We've got a rough cut of the prologue, ya'll!
Building lowriders
Showing lowriders
Social media feed:
Behind the scenes:
Félix Gutiérrez, professor emeritus of journalism, communication and American studies at the University of Southern California gives his perception of lowriders and his insight of cultural expression and identity. Though he’s a Southern California native who grew up in East L.A. and South Pasadena, he pursued higher education and was a little bit older than the guys who were investing time and money in their cars to start lowriding.
Lowriders, including the Sacramento chapter of the Dukes Car Club, cruise in the Little League parade with the mayor of Sacramento. This is the rearview out of a "bomb" owned by Carlos Rodriguez, with the official Dukes plaque in the rear window. Behind, an independent (nonaffiliated) lowrider is "hitting the switches" to use hydraulics to make his car go up and down.